No fear of regulation for tourist accommodation rental companies (Ritella)

Lorenzo Ritella, regional director of GuestReady in Spain, said that tourist accommodation rental companies are not afraid of regulation of this market in Spain, but said that "banning everything" would be wrong. "We fully agree that tourist accommodation rentals should be regulated because regulation also allows us to create uniform laws for people to operate under. We don't like the uncertainty that is currently present and doesn't make it clear how things should be done," Ritella admitted in an interview for Europa Press.

Regulating tourist accommodation in tight market areas to ensure the right to housing is one of the points of the programmatic agreement between the Party''s'Spain's Socialists (PSOE) and Sumar to achieve a coalition government. In addition, Madrid Mayor José Luis Almeida announced that the municipality will draft new legislation to regulate the rental of tourist apartments in the capital in "three or four months". On the other hand, in Barcelona, another major tourist center in Spain, the rental of tourist accommodation has been regulated since 2012 through the Special Urban Plan for Tourist Accommodation, which is constantly updated and establishes restrictions and requirements for the operation of tourist accommodation. In this context, Ritella said that the regulation is beneficial for companies because it introduces general rules under which those wishing to rent out their accommodation for''the case is the fault of the government side, because they did not agree and did not reach a single criterion for work.

"THIS MODEL DOESN'T INCREASE PRICES AND DOESN'T EXPOSE RESIDENTS." In addition, Lorenzo Ritella argues that tourist rentals do not raise apartment prices and do not force center residents''FROM TURISTIC LODGING RENTALS ARE DISTRIBUTED' Regarding the benefits of this type of rental, Ritella pointed out that the wealth that is created by the renting of accommodation by individual owners for tourism is "distributed among several small owners" and is not concentrated "in the hands of one person, who is often a foreigner", as is the case with hotel chains. He also recalled that this sector creates many jobs, as it requires cleaners, laborers or office staff, and has a positive impact on local commerce, as six out of every ten euros a tourist spends during his stay is spent in neighborhood stores. He also stated that renting for tourism renews the housing''fund, as there is a 78% chance that apartments intended to be rented to tourists will be renovated to suit the tourist's requirements. According to Ritell, the key to renting to tourism is not so much for the owner to make more money, but rather for the tenant to be able to choose how long to rent their accommodation for, although he acknowledges that a property of this type of rental can bring in a good month's return of 150% higher than a normal rental.